LONDON — Ivy Maddox has teamed up with Verifymy to spread awareness of new age verification rules that will take effect in the U.K. on July 25.
The campaign is centered around a 26-minute video posted on Verifymy's website that features Maddox reading the Online Safety Act, which outlines the new safety regulations issued by government body Ofcom.
"Ofcom has set a hard deadline of July 25 for pornographic websites, search engines and user-to-user platforms (for example, social media, dating or online video gaming platforms) to implement highly effective age assurance technology to safeguard children from encountering X-rated material online," said a rep. "The Online Safety Act puts a range of duties on online services, making them more responsible for their users with a particular focus on child safety. A study by the Children’s Commissioner for England found children first see online pornography by the age of 13 on average, with one in 10 encountering it as young as nine."
Maddox described the importance of the campaign and the Online Safety Act.
“I was first exposed to porn at school when I didn’t want to see it, and I hate the thought of children seeing my content in the same way," she said. "The Online Safety Act can help prevent this from happening, but it’s not exactly an easy read, so this film is my way of bringing it to life and raising awareness of rules that will have a big impact both on my industry and beyond.”
Lina Ghazal, head of regulatory and public affairs at Verifymy, expressed additional enthusiasm for the effort.
“Delaying action on safeguarding can leave both users and platforms exposed," said Ghazal. "This is a real chance for the sector to come together to protect children online, ensure a safer environment for all users and support more collaboration between platforms and Ofcom.”
For more information, visit Verifymy online.
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